Thursday, March 18, 2010

March is Roaring

Not really loud, but it's definitely a typical March day, all wind and cloud with the occasional bit of sun. The wind still carries a winter chill, too.

I resisted the urge to over dress again, and as usual started out getting good and chilled. People running The Stairs were bundled up as were many walkers. It's not all that cold, but the wind was nasty.

A couple of years ago, when I ran down The Path Under The Stairs, I could take quick short steps and make some pretty good speed. It seems that since my last marathon, I've stiffened up, and I just don't have the flexibility for that anymore. Except tonight, I felt like I was getting close to that again.

I still feel it. My speed is way up, and I'm paying for it in the hips. I'm stretching a bit more in my stride and working things a bit harder. Knees complain sometimes, but those pangs are still transient, popping up in the middle of a run to last for a few paces before subsiding again.

I also believe that getting back to regular 10 km runs during the week is helping a lot too. That extra distance helps. I crossed the river at Crowchild and I consider the south end of that bridge to be the halfway point. So if I get there in 28 minutes or so, I'm doing good. Tonight I was two minutes ahead of that.

I counted steps a couple of times tonight. 180 steps a minute is supposed to be optimum, and both times I checked I was 174, so within range. But it's not the pace so much that's making me fast, it's how I'm stretching a little more than usual with each step. My hips are telling me so.

Coming off the promenade and over Prince's Island was when I slowed a little. I think. On the foot bridge I pushed pretty hard. I still felt strong toward the end, and my breathing was still steady. I'm amazed at that. Usually I'm puffing pretty hard when I push, but lately breathing has been steady even when I'm pushing it.

I bounded up the bottom two flights of The Stairs, sort of. Not much traffic today; I think that cold wind kept most of the booty campers indoors. On The Path, I decided to push hard all the way up, and for the last 50 yards I tried to run it like I would a level stretch.

Breathing was hard, but didn't fail me. I still had reserves. At the top, running along the edge of the bluff, I slowed for a minute or so, but my recovery to steady breathing was quick. So for the last 700 m or so, I stretched with each step, all the way home.

Forgot to write up Tuesday's run so here's the stats:
Distance: 10.97 Time: 56:39
Average speed: 5:09 min/km. (11.62 kph)

Today's run:
Distance: 10.09 Time: 54:41
Average speed: 5:25 min/km. (11.07 kph)

Shoes: New Balance 769 (Blue).
Today's earworm: Lili Marleen, of all things, and L n K.
Weather: Mostly cloudy and 1C, and darn windy, from the north at 40 kph, gusting to 50-ish.

No comments: